Sam_Rutherford wrote:
Backing up a bit, one of the fundamentals of Schengen is that everyone (over 16 I think) must have an ID card on them at all times.
Germany has signed the Schengen treaty but one is not required to carry an ID card at all times around here. Or passport, or anything. It is true that every person resident in this country must have an ID card or a passport (or both). But there is no requirement to carry it, other than in some special cases.
It may not be required to carry an ID at all times but it certainly is a good idea these days.
France however seems to turn into a banana repbulic where flying is concerned. 24 hrs PPR for Colmar? Well, thanks, but no thanks! That totally undermines the value of GA, namely flexibility.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
It may not be required to carry an ID at all times but it certainly is a good idea these days.
I think more often it is a good idea to leave it at home or in the hotel safe instead… In “safe” environments (like the little town where we live) I have no problem taking my wallet with me which contains almost everything: Money, ID card, credit card, driving license, pilot’s license and so on. But at an overnight stay in Barcelona or Paris or Berlin that wallet stays in the hotel room and I only take along a little purse with 30 Euros or so. I know a lot of people who got their wallets stolen in seemingly “civilised” European metropols. Without ID and license you will be stranded there, together with the passengers. That has happened more than once in our company already. So no, I don’t take my ID with me all the time.
Yes there is a risk of theft. I usually don’t keep my ID in my wallet but on my person in such a way it can’t easily be stolen, at least when I am in places where I think it might be. Licenses stay wherever it’s safe… pal of mine had his whole pilots bag stolen in London (from the hotel room)….
But I have had several instances where authorities demanded to see an ID just on the street. Once in Spain, several times in France and two times in Germany. If you don’t have it, then it’s for identification procedures to the nearest precinct. Happened to one of my colleagues in Italy recently. Took almost 4 hours to sort out… not for me, thanks.
BTW, most police organisation will accept your drivers license as well when it’s about identification only. So the border crossing document may well stay where they are safe…
I cover the risk of theft my carrying multiple IDs in different places. ID card (credit card size) in wallet, another one in the flying licence. Then a passport in the bag and another one on me. I leave the 3rd passport at the office in case of emergency, someone can have quick access to it and if necessary I can have someone fly it to me.
Despite (pre-) those measures, I’ve had to take the eurostar with no ID, and driving licence + passport scan did the trick (took about 15 min of waiting for them to check their systems, luckily I had a scan of all of them so could show the french to the french and UK to the british)
Noe wrote:
I leave the 3rd passport
Are you a spook by any chance? 
By golly! Who has 3 passports? I’ve got two because I had two parents (like most people) from different countries.
France (Born & Parents)
Portugal (0-25) – Very hard to get (overall took 2 years or so, with bureaucrats sending me back and forth)
UK (25-now 33) – Super easy at the time, 6-8 weeks. Did it when I qualified and people started talking about Brexit, and with the thinking that the day that passport’s value would increase, the difficulty / time to get it would also do (which ended up happening in the last couple month, even pre-brexit)
I don’t know about today but for many years it was completely normal for anyone who travelled to both Israel and the Middle East to have two passports.
This reminds me… I need to dedicate a day to collecting my Czech one!
Peter wrote:
I don’t know about today but for many years it was completely normal for anyone who travelled to both Israel and the Middle East to have two passports.
Most commercial aviators have more than one passport. Either because of the Israeli/Arab problem or just because it takes so long to get visa. A one-year visa for Russia (which costs the same as a one-day visa which would otherwise be required if one travels there on short notice!) takes 4 to 6 weeks to obtain. During that time we need a second passport.
Peter wrote:
I don’t know about today but for many years it was completely normal for anyone who travelled to both Israel and the Middle East to have two passports.
Yes, in some countries you can even request without that (for the reasons what_next explains)
Having a 2nd passport (even if from the same country of the 1st) has potentially a lot of value. By the time you realise you might need it (like what_next says, book a trip then need to get a visa for another urgent-ish trip), it’s often too late.
